Consumers continue to push for a mechanism that allows them to use their own device to perform typical work tasks. In most cases, these devices are owned by the individual user, which means the company may have zero control over them. Because companies have little if any control over these user devices, there is concern regarding providing the device access to corporate remote networks due to the potential for attacks vectors (nefarious applications, leaking, tampering, or otherwise disclosing of critical intellectual property owned by company). The market has coined the term “unmanaged device” or “BYOD” (bring your own device) to represent any device that is not owned or controlled by the company that needs access to the corporate network so the employee can do their work. In most cases, this device is owned by the employee requesting access. Some companies require employee devices to be put under mobile device management (MDM) control before allowed onto the corporate network, but such a configuration is not really zero control.
Most mobile solutions are all or nothing—all data is shared or no data is shared with respect to a corporate intranet (i.e., an appliance based network). With the advent of BYOD, users need to access the corporate intranet but do not want their personal information to be available to the corporate intranet. Likewise, the corporate intranet may not want to risk exposure to certain content on the user device that is not germane (or appropriate) for the corporate network.
Secure communication with a corporate network can be achieved through virtual private network (VPN) connections. Current VPN clients that provide application level control block traffic in that VPN application running on the client device. For example, some companies provide a per-app VPN solution. Despite current VPN per application solutions, there are still concerns regarding the vulnerability of corporate network access from personal user devices.
There is a need in the art for managing access to corporate networks by user's personal devices that identifies the health of applications granted access to the network.